Mean Girls Movie the Musical Adaptation Review

Mean Girls The All-New Movie, directed by Samantha Jayne, came out early January of 2024. The new movie is a musical adaptation of the famous movie Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters, which came out in 2004. Mean Girls is a movie about a girl, Cady, moving to The United States and going to public school for the first time. The movie and musical both consist of an underlying meaning and show the true experience of a normal teenage girl trying to fit in at a new school. I really enjoyed the new movie, as it contained a combination of the musical and movie aspects of other various Mean Girls adaptations. The movie showed the raw talent the cast and filming crew possess.

The movie was casted extremely well, starring actresses like Renee Rapp and Avantika Vandanapu. Renee Rapp, who played Regina George, has starred as Regina George before in Mean Girls on Broadway in 2019-2020. She also creates her own music, with numerous big hits, like “Tummy Hurts,” “Too Well,” and “Not My Fault.” Avantika Vandanapu, who played Karen Smith, is currently in school at Columbia University. Mean Girls The All-New Movie was a breakthrough into the acting field for Avantika, as this was her first major role in an acting position. Her dedication to the role shows a true passion for acting. I can see her making many more popular movies in the future. There were many more actresses who truly showed their talent like Angourie Rice, Jaquel Spivey, and Bebe Woods. The casting of this new movie adaptation made the story come to life in a new way we’ve never seen before.

There were many musical pieces throughout the movie. There were mixed reviews on having a few songs in the movie, as many people were not expecting it, however I had prior knowledge of the movie being considered a musical.  I was very pleased with the song selection used in the movie, like “World Burn,” “Someone Gets Hurt,” and “Sexy.” I enjoyed getting to experience acting and singing all in one. It showed the true versatility of the actors and how well a story can be told in a musical form. I wish they had kept in a few of the songs from broadway but I see why they picked the songs that were used in the movie. Having the musical aspects along with the acting aspects made the movie a whole experience I didn’t expect to like as much as I did.

Lastly, something controversial that I really enjoyed was the modernization of the movie’s atmosphere. The new movie included many popular trends, clothes, brands, and social media we have today that did not exist in 2004, when the original Mean Girls movie aired. Having the modern features helped cater the movie to new generations who were not as familiar with the original movie. This created a new time period for Mean Girls and has brought back the iconic sayings and ideas that the original movie sparked in people.

I loved this movie overall. I would definitely recommend everyone to see this movie at least once and enjoy the fun and thrilling experience Mean Girls provides. It is an iconic movie and time period that Samanthat Jayne was able to bring into the new generation. I hope to see more adaptations to other iconic 2000s movies in the future.

Rating – 5/5